Tulips and Cornflowers
by laveniis
Summary: Gilbert and Elizabeta have been best friends for years, but will Elizabeta's love for the Austrian boy, Roderich and Gilbert's love for Elizabeta- drive them apart in the end? Or will it possibly bring them together?... Are Tulips and Cornflowers a good combination? A/N; currently on hiatus gomen gomen


**Hi there! This is my first story on here and it probably sucks. Sorry if my millions of grammatical mistakes ruin your IQ, as my eyes tend to skip over everything. **

**All characters belong to Hidekaz Himaruya**

Chapter 1; Remember When?

_ A little girl sat on the beach, arranging various seashells to make names of those she cared for. Her light brown hair swayed in the afternoon wind, accompanied by the calm ocean. She was now completely unaware of the rest of the world right now as she was trying to escape it._

_ Her father had passed on this morning, she was extremely upset. But, she didn't know how to handle it, as she was only at a tender age._

_ This poor, little, fatherless girl sat alone on the beach, engraving her name 'Elizabeta' into the centre of all the names of those she cared for. On the inner circle she had written 'mum' and 'dad', to symbolise her parents. She drew a little angel next to 'dad' to show that he had passed away._

_ Oh, but wait, there was one more name written on the inner circle. It was the name 'Gilbert'. Gilbert is Elizabeta's best friend, but also her worst enemy. They do everything with each other, or against each other._

_ She couldn't possibly imagine her life without him there, with his obnoxious laugh and all. Footsteps began to approach her from behind, Elizabeta guessed it was her mum coming to take her home._

"_Hey, Lizzie. Your mother asked me to come find you. You ready to go home?" asked a boy with silver hair and blood-red eyes stood behind her, a little boy with blond hair clinging to his side._

"_I'm not ready to go home, Gil..." whispered Elizabeta, not even turning around to make eye contact with the German boy. The little blond, blue-eyed boy at Gilbert's side let go of him and slowly walked over to Elizabeta and grabbed her shirt._

"_Smile, Lizzie." he mumbled, hugging her arm sympathetically. Elizabeta began to sob at the little boy's words. She pulled him into his lap and held him close._

"_Sorry, Ludwig. But Lizzie is too upset right now." she whimpered, planting a friendly kiss on his little head. He clutched the front of her shirt and started crying too. Gilbert looked somewhat uncomfortable by the current situation. He wasn't one for crying, so what should he do?_

_ Gilbert walked over to Elizabeta and sat beside her, pulling her frail body closer to him. He took in a sharp breath._

"_You know Liz, things will get better eventually." he whispered into her hair, as an attempt to sympathise. Elizabeta only hiccuped in response, making Gilbert decide that this had been a failed attempt at cheering his heart-broken friend up. He slowly let go of her and walked around the banks of the beach, looking for a nice stick._

_ After he found one, he walked over to Elizabeta and threw his toy sword at her, hoping it got her attention. She picked up Ludwig and sat him beside her, then picking up the wooden sword. She stood up bravely and turned to Gilbert, a frown still frozen into her face._

_ Gilbert smirked at her._

"_Ready to battle, Elizabeta?" he mocked, lurching forward to swipe. Elizabeta jumped back in a spilt second and tapped him playfully on the head. Still she did not smile at him, Gilbert believed this was about to get pretty serious for a 'Cheer-up-Liz' mission. But, then again she is a girl._

_ He swiped at her again, only to get parried by her. She looked as if she was barely paying attention! He wanted her to get all riled up, like she normally would. But, nope, he got no reaction from the normally fiery, Hungarian girl._

_ He came to the conclusion that there was only one thing he could turn to. As Elizabeta went to take a swipe at Gilbert, he jumped forward and kicked his foot out underneath hers, knocking them both into the shallows of the ocean. Ludwig sat on the beach, giving an un-amused look to Gilbert._

_ Elizabeta looked absolutely confused when she sat in the water, examining her now drenched clothing. Gilbert started laughing hysterically, he thought it was quite a funny sight. Elizabeta looked down for a moment, a smirk barely visible on her darkened face._

_ Before Gilbert knew what happened, he felt cold water spray all over him, and he heard her beautiful laugh. Elizabeta had splashed at him with the ocean's water, although, he did not care to splash back because he was fine with her glorious laugh._

"_Come on, Lizzie. I'll take you home." Gilbert offered, standing up and lending his hand to her. Elizabeta went to take his pale hand, but was somewhat hesitant to do so. "What's the matter now?" he asked, hoping she wasn't going to have a crying fit. She drew in a breath, exhaling, traces of nervousness following._

"_Gil... Gilbert... Do you think that you and Ludwig could stay at my house tonight? I need you two, tonight." pleaded Elizabeta, looking down nervously. She truly believed that if they were not there to care for her, she would lose herself during the night._

_ Gilbert pondered the thought for a moment. After a lot of debating, he decided to stay with her. His mum wouldn't care that much right? He pulled her out of the water, smirking happily at her._

"_Sure. I have nothing better to do." he stated, giving her a sincere smile, then deciding to take his shirt off because the dampness of his shirt was beginning to bother him. He trotted over to Ludwig and picked him up. "Lets go then, yes?" he asked, lending his free hand out to Elizabeta. She nodded instantly, grabbing his hand gratefully and let him lead the way._

_ Gilbert swore he could hear her crying behind him as they walked back to her house. But he did not know really, as she was also giggling hysterically because she was trying to hide her impending sorrow. He shook it off, what's wrong with her crying?_

"_Mrs. Héderváry- I'm back. And I've got Elizabeta with me!" Gilbert called out as he knocked on the door. He heard rushing about and then heard a clicking behind the door. It then quickly opened to show a woman with long brown hair._

"_Oh, Eliza, sweetie!" she cried, jumping forward and hugging Elizabeta fondly. She then let go rather quickly, feeling the dampness of her shirt. She giggled at her mother's reaction. "I see you were down at the beach, then." she laughed, kissing Elizabeta's head. "Thank you for bringing her home, Gilbert." thanked Elizabeta's mother, patting Gilbert on the head, who gave her a thumbs up in response._

"_Say, mummy, could Gilbert and Ludwig stay over tonight? Because I-"_

"_Of course, Eliza, I don't mind at all... the more the merrier."_

_ Elizabeta, Gilbert and Ludwig baked foods for Elizabeta's mother all afternoon, she rather enjoyed the children's foods. They watched television- played hide and seek- did all kinds of things. When Elizabeta told them to go to bed, they built a little fort out of their couches and blankets. They got a torch and read their favourite stories to each other._

_ Eventually, they fell asleep. They all fell asleep together. Little Ludwig cuddled up to Gilbert and Elizabeta in the middle, who were both turned on their sides and holding hands._

_ At this moment in time- Elizabeta would giver everything just to stay here, with Gilbert and Ludwig like this- but somewhere... deep in her heart she knew it would not remain this way forever._

_ Happiness that occurs after storms, never seem to last very long. Well, happiness in general._

Now, fifteen years old, Elizabeta sat at her desk, gazing longingly out her window. She watched the Autumn leaves dance in the wind, the tulips of all colours sway in her garden. It was weekend- normally when she was younger she'd be outside playing in the leaves with Gilbert and Ludwig.

But...

They had their own friends they were off with. Ludwig had his little friend, Feliciano Vargas- a boy who's family moved from Italy to the United States. Even though Ludwig acted as if he hated the Italian boy, he did seem to have some cute affection for him. There was also this short Japanese boy named Kiku Honda, he was unbelievably polite, but was easily disturbed. Then there was... Roderich Edelstein. Even though he was Elizabeta and Gilbert's age- he chose to spend a lot of his time with Ludwig, seeing as he's mature and all.

Gilbert was off with his friends, Antonio and Francis, probably off annoying that British boy Arthur. Elizabeta barely ever hung around Gilbert now- I guess you could say they had grown apart. The only times they were together is if they had classes together or if she was brave enough to hang around with him and his friends.

She did have her own friends, of course. There was this cute girl named Lily Zwingli who moved from Switzerland with her brother Basch. She got along with most of the girls at school- like she got along with this girl named Natalya, a girl from Russia. Although... she was a little obsessed with her brother, Ivan. Scratch that- she wanted to marry him, and she would probably kill anybody who got in the way.

But, she honestly did miss those little days with obnoxious Gilbert and cute little Ludwig. Where they'd just sit outside in the sun and point out little animals in the sky to Ludwig. But those days had died, along with the dreams of her eight year old self. Her room got dark, startling her a little, as the light vanished.

She looked outside, it was raining.

"Rain..." she whispered, touching the window as if remembering something. She watched the drops of water land on the pavement leading up to her cute little house home to her mother and herself. "I wonder... I wonder if Gilbert remembers how we met?" she mumbled, pulling her hand away from the cold window. She put her head in her hands and began to stare out of the window again, falling into a daydream of the past.

"_You took my stick!" cried a four year old Elizabeta, who now had a four and half years old Gilbert pinned to the ground, clutching the stick to his chest. They were currently in the local day care centre._

"_I found it first!" Gilbert shouted back. A young woman ran over in panic, probably a care taker at the day care. Elizabeta's little hands attempted to pull the stick out of the German boy's grip, just encouraging to grasp it tighter. The care taker pulled Elizabeta off of Gilbert and sat her on the ground._

"_Now, what happened?" she asked. Elizabeta pouted, glaring at Gilbert menacingly._

"_That stupid boy took my stick!" she cried, attempting to jump on him, but was pulled back by the woman._

"_It's a stick! It's not yours!" he yelled back, poking his tongue out the Hungarian four year old._

"_It doesn't belong to either of you." The woman huffed, taking the stick from Gilbert and throwing it over the fence of the day care. Gilbert frowned and Elizabeta gasped._

"_Miss! Why would you do that? That stick was going to help me defend the world from invasions!" cried Elizabeta, grasping her dress. Gilbert laughed mockingly at her._

"_You wouldn't be able to!" he shouted, shoving her and running off. Elizabeta growled and ran after him._

_ Clouds began to cover the sky, little droplets of water began to fall from the sky. The care takers ushered all the back inside. Elizabeta and Gilbert raced each other back inside. Elizabeta tripped over a rock, scraping her knee, she began to wail. All the care takers had gone inside, so the only other person outside still, was Gilbert._

_ Gilbert heard her cries of pain and stopped running and turned around to face her. She was curled up on the ground, hugging her knee. Trying to stop it from bleeding. Gilbert, gulped and walked back over to her._

"_Are you okay?" he asked, bending down in front of the crying girl. She shook her head, crying even louder than before. Gilbert didn't know to do, so he slung his arm under hers and hoisted her to her feet. "Well, you can't just sit there." he whispered, leading her to the doors. Elizabeta nodded and wrapped her arms around him._

"_Thank you. What's your name? My name is Elizabeta. I am from Hungary." Elizabeta asked, wiping her tears away from her face, which was now puffy and red. Gilbert, smirked at her and ruffled her hair._

"_My name is Gilbert and I'm from Germany."he stated, pulling her forward. As they were about to walk into the centre, Elizabeta gripped his shoulders and kissed his cheek. Gilbert gasped and looked at her in confusion._

"_Why did you do that?" asked Gilbert, his hand frozen in mid motion. Elizabeta giggled and smiled at him._

"_My mummy said that if someone helps me, I should rewards them with something nice." replied Elizabeta, her eyes sparkling with innocence. Gilbert smiled awkwardly at her, touching his cheek.._

"_Well... thanks... I guess." he said, sounding somewhat confused. He pushed the door open and the care takers all sighed. But they all had looks of confusion on their faces. The two infants that had been trying to kill each other over a stick- were now holding hands like they had been best friends for ever. Oh well, less screaming?_

_ Elizabeta hobbled over to one of the care takers and began sulking about her scraped knee, which was bleeding a little bit. The woman got some cream for the cut and put it on her scratch, then covered it with a band aid. She patted her head and told her to run along. She nodded and ran up behind Gilbert and scared him. He dropped the piece of paper he had been drawing on._

_ She gazed down at it, and smiled. It was an attempted picture of her and Gilbert battling. Gilbert turned red and tried to pick it up, but was beaten by Elizabeta. She picked it up and hugged in affectionately._

"_Can I keep this, Gil?" she asked, hope glistening in her emerald eyes. Gilbert gulped, embarrassment visible in his piercing red eyes. He twiddled his fingers for a bit, seeming to ponder whether or not he would let her have it, as he did not want her to see it in the first place._

"_...Okay." he replied after a little time. Elizabeta giggled and thanked him. A care taker cam over and placed a hand on Gilbert's shoulder, turning him towards the door. A short woman with long silver hair stood at the door with a little blond, blue eyed boy in her arms._

_Gilbert's eyes lit up and ran over to her, hugging her waist._

"_Mummy!" he exclaimed, happy his mother had finally picked him up. She bent down and pat him on the head._

"_Hey there baby, did you have fun?" she asked, tucking some of the hair out of his face. He nodded excitedly and pointed to Elizabeta, giving her a fright due to the sudden attention._

"_That's my new friend Lizzie!" he cried, pulling him mother over to her. Elizabeta started to play with the rim of her shirt shyly._

"_Hello..." whispered Elizabeta, smiling at Gilbert's mother. She smiled back and patted her on the head._

"_Hi there, sweetie. I hope my little Gilbert wasn't being a bully to you." she said jokingly, making Gilbert nervous. He was about to answer, but someone called out Elizabeta's name. Her head flew up and she took off towards the door._

"_Daddy!" she cried, jumping on to a man with brown hair standing in the door._

"_Hi there Elizabeta, have fun today?" he asked, kissing her on the cheek, making her giggle loudly. Gilbert dragged his mother over to Elizabeta and her father._

"_I had lots of fun, daddy!" she exclaimed, waving at Gilbert from her father's arms. "This is my friend, Gilbert!" she exclaimed, Gilbert waved back fondly._

"_Sweetie, we have to go now." said Gilbert's mother, smiling at Elizabeta and her father. Gilbert made a disappointed groan and waved at Elizabeta._

"_Bye, Lizzie..." he mumbled as they walked out the door. Elizabeta kept waving until they were no longer in sight._

"_Come on Eli- let's go home."_

"_Okay, daddy."_

Such wonderful days, was the best way for Elizabeta to describe her childhood. Suddenly, there was a violent knock at her door. Her mother was off at her sister's house, so she had to go answer the door. She walked down the stairs.

The person knocked at the door again.

"I'm nearly there!" shouted Elizabeta, speeding up a bit. She reached the door and yanked it open, the cold air hitting her face in a rush. She met blood red eyes. "Gilbert? What are you..."

Elizabeta rolled her eyes, and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, pulling him inside.

"Hi there, Liz." was all he said, giving her a stupid grin. She rolled her eyes again and took his jacket off of him and hung it on the coat hanger. She walked into the bathroom and got a towel. She walked back out shortly and threw it at him, telling him to dry off. He complied., beginning to dry his hair.

"I thought you were off with your... friends. Why are you here?" Elizabeta asked, sitting on the couch and gesturing him over to the couch. He walked over slowly, still drying off.

"I was, but we split up when it began raining. I was closer to your house than my own, so I came here. Antonio went back to his place and Francis followed Arthur home. 'Dunno why, probably trying to get some action or something, I think Francis has a thing for him." Gilbert replied, drying off his face. Elizabeta was confused, wasn't Francis known for romancing women? She should know- first time they met he tried to make a move on her.

Of course- Gilbert told him back off, and Elizabeta had gotten ready to hit him- hard.

"Isn't Francis obsessed with women? Is he um... bisexual? Not that I have a problem, if he is, that is." she asked, scratching her head nervously. Gilbert shrugged.

"He most likely is bisexual. I've seen him eyeing some guys around town, at first I thought he was just examining them- but then he started to blush. I think Antonio has guessed it too. Not that it matters." he said, setting down the towel on the arm rest on the couch. Elizabeta smiled, then made an 'oh' sound and stood up.

"Would you like some noodles?" she asked. Gilbert pondered for a moment, then nodded. He picked up the television remote and switched on the television. "You know, you could ask. Be polite, once in a while, gosh." she scoffed, storming in to the kitchen, Gilbert just chuckled under his breath.

Elizabeta frowned. She only had one packet of 2 minute noodles. She decided she'd just have soup or something later or something... Elizabeta sluggishly walked back into the living room, a bowl of noodles and a fork.

She sat down and handed the bowl of noodles to Gilbert reluctantly. She kicked her feet up on the coffee table and stared at the television.

Gilbert examined her face, watching her eyes occasionally dart to the noodles he was yet to start devouring. He his a laugh and tapped Elizabeta on the arm in amusement. She turned to look at him, annoyance visible on her face.

He placed the bowl of noodles between them and smiled at her. "Want to share? I don't mind." he suggested, offering her his fork. She looked surprised that he offered, but took the fork regardless and began eating. Gilbert didn't care for utensils, simply picking up the noodles and placing them in his mouth with his fingers.

It reminded Gilbert of times they had sat in their little hideaway in the bush lands, eating whatever they could take from their homes.

But then he remembered that over time, Elizabeta showed up less and less, maybe it had something to do with the fact he had begun bringing his friends up there? Perhaps she had been jealous, 'had' being the keyword here, as she had made it very clear that she does not care about who he hangs around with.

Gilbert shrugged to himself. He would never be able to comprehend the mind of females, be it Elizabeta or his very own mother. Same planet, different species.

"So, Elizabeta, who do you hang around these days? You know without the awesome me around you every second." Gilbert gloated, running a hand through his star silver hair, trying to make himself look attractive. She rolled her eyes in response.

"I spend my time with that cute girl Lily Zwingli, you know the one with the mean brother, Basch?" she replied, placing her head in her hands.

"Oh, she's kind of cute. And by cute I mean; 'Oh what a cute little rabbit!', cute, not cute like I think she's cute and I want to date her because I don't, and-"

"Shut up Gil." laughed Elizabeta, pushing him playfully. Gilbert laughed in turn also, realising how ridiculous he sounded moments ago. It was rather strange.

They just sat there for hours, side by side watching the television. Eventually Gilbert fell asleep, so Elizabeta got a marker and drew on his face. She placed the marker on the coffee table and picked up the bowl that had originally contained noodles. She walked into the kitchen and placed it in the sink and then decided to go fetch a blanket.

She returned with a large blanket and threw it over Gilbert and snuggled under it herself. She stared at the ceiling, well nothing in particular honestly. She turned her head to Gilbert's sleeping face. She laughed to herself, 'It seems he even looks obnoxious when he's sleeping.' she seemed to think as she poked his face in amusement.

Eventually, she had also fallen into slumber, her head resting peacefully on Gilbert's shoulder. Of course, this wasn't an odd sight. Gilbert would occasionally crash at her house and they'd fall asleep somewhere together, as if they were a couple.

But they most certainty weren't. Elizabeta had a crush on Roderich, Ludwig's friend, much to Gilbert's distaste. Gilbert absolutely despised the Austrian boy, Elizabeta was not sure why, maybe it was because he was somewhat of an aristocrat? Maybe it was because he was kind of snobby? Maybe he was secretly jealous and wanted her to himself? Maybe he just hated him for no particular reason?

Elizabeta didn't let it trouble her mind too much, as Gilbert was strange in general.

Ever so slowly, it became morning. Elizabeta's mother still had not returned home, probably staying her sister's house. Elizabeta began to stir when the room suddenly began to light up due to the sun. She rubbed her eyes, remembering that Gilbert was next to her. Elizabeta climbed out from underneath the blanket, standing on the carpet and trying to wake herself up properly.

After she had come to her senses, she walked over to Gilbert and yanked the blanket off him. He jumped at the sudden breeze of the cold, morning air embracing him. He blinked a few times, focusing on Elizabeta's face, a scowl forming on his once peaceful face.

"Why'd you do that!?" he exclaimed, extremely confused by what just happened. Elizabeta just laughed in amusement and waved him off. She wandered into the kitchen for a few minutes, listening as Gilbert turned on the television, increasing the volume until it was blaring loud, probably just to spite her. She almost didn't make him some toast. But that would be mean.

She walked back in and threw the piece of toast at him. "Breakfast." she said simply, plopping down on the couch beside him. Gilbert frowned and began eating the toast, a bitter look on his face. He turned to Elizabeta, watching her eyes light up as some classical music performance advertisement appeared on the television. She was only interested because of Roderich.

Gilbert hated him with all of his power. Even when he first saw him, he hated him, instantly calling him a loser because he was constantly being protected by that Basch Zwingli from Elizabeta and himself. He began wonder things that bothered him nearly everyday, as he studied her always cheerful face. Why didn't Elizabeta like to pick on Roderich any more? Why did she have to grow up? Why did she have to love him? Why couldn't she love him, instead?

As much as Gilbert would prefer not to admit it... he had always had a crush on his Hungarian friend. She was the only girl at the school who wasn't afraid to kick someone's ass, whether they were male and female. Many times, he had been the victim but usually it was for being an ass to that prick Roderich.

Gilbert decided to take a leap, see where he'd end up. "Elizabeta?".

Elizabeta turned her head curiously to look at him. "Yes, Gil?".

He took in deep breath.

"Why do you love Roderich?"

Elizabeta paused. Why did she love him? Was it his politeness? His musical talent? His smile? Just who he was? She stared down nervously, realising she had no real answer to her friend's question. Gilbert continued to stare at her, but with a frown.

"Why would you love him? Nearly all the girls at the school always say they love them, does that make you like a lovesick teenager?" he continued to press on. Elizabeta glared at him now.

"I just love him Gilbert. Do I need a reason for my love?" she hissed back, huffing and crossing her arms and kicking his leg. He sighed, honestly he had known that this would happen. She ever gave a straight answer to him. "Why do you care?".

He wanted to tell her that _he _loved _her_, tell her to forget Roderich. But he couldn't do that. So he did the only thing he could think of.

"I'm your best friend, Liz! I need to make sure your love life's in order, or it will become my problem!" he said lamely while thinking to himself that it was already his problem. Elizabeta rolled her eyes and continued watching television.

"When do you plan on going home?" she asked randomly, not even flinching a little. It wasn't what she said that upset him, it was the way she said it, her tone was so cold and instructive.

Suddenly, his mouth felt extremely bitter.

Gilbert frowned and stuffed the rest of the toast in his mouth and stood up. Elizabeta watched him stand curiously.

"Bye." was all he said as he wandered over to door. The room felt so cold to him, the warmness of last night had frozen over. And it bothered him, more than it should have. "See you at school. I won't bother you until then. I'm sure that will make you happy." he hissed quietly, snatching his coat from the rack and pushing the door open and stepping out, not even bothering to turn to meet her Emerald green eyes.

He stormed down the path, smiling as he passed her mother, who ruffled his hair. Elizabeta sat on the couch wondering what just happened. Had she upset him? She wondered, Gilbert looked kind of hurt when he left. Did he really hate Roderich that much?

Elizabeta realised how cold it was in the room, which was odd because it was so warm minutes ago.


End file.
